Reclamation offers up to $11 million to U.S. territories for domestic water supplies
WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Reclamation today announced the availability of up to $11 million as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for projects to provide domestic water supplies to U.S. territories.
Reclamation plans to distribute the funding from the Inflation Reduction Act —the largest climate investment in history— to American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands for projects in disadvantaged communities or households that do not have reliable access to potable water.
“This funding through the Investing in America Agenda will assist in bringing clean, reliable drinking water to communities that need this most across the U.S. territories,” Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said. “As we move forward with these historic investments, we are looking to assist with meeting the basic needs of disadvantaged communities and help them to adapt to impacts of climate change.”
Applicants may apply for financial assistance or technical assistance through this program. They may apply for financial assistance through a grant process to receive funding for planning, design and construction of domestic water supply projects. Reclamation will accept proposals for financial assistance until September 22, 2024.
The second option is to request that the funding be used by Reclamation to provide technical assistance. Technical assistance arrangements do not entail a transfer of funds to the applicant and Reclamation cannot provide any construction support under this option. Reclamation will accept letters of interest for technical assistance until August 25, 2024.
The combined funding requested across all proposals submitted by a territory under this opportunity cannot exceed $2.75 million. To be eligible for either option, applicants must be territorial government entities with water delivery authority. We encourage applicants to submit proposals and letters of interest as early as possible. The Domestic Water Supply Projects program has no cost-share requirements for territories.
For more details on the application and award process, visit Reclamation’s International Affairs webpage.
The Inflation Reduction Act includes funding for grants, contracts, or financial assistance for disadvantaged communities for up to 100% of the cost of planning, design or construction of water projects that are primarily aimed at providing domestic water supplies to communities or households that do not have access to domestic water supplies in a state or territory. This funding builds upon a previous announcement of $5.5 million for domestic territories.
This program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
